Anyone Can Do It!

This past month I’ve dabbled back into web site building. Having learned HTML from the ground up, when the Internet was brand new, I’ve had my battle scars with web site building. For a few years I dropped out of the scene, as every kind of new language appeared and it became cumbersome to keep up. I was severely discouraged - until now.

Now there are so many free tools to help someone build a website that there is no excuse to not put one up – especially if you need one for business. Wordpress has become the hottest program out there for this adventure. 

If you are unsure about this, let me give you the best hand holding experience EVER! Tyler Moore specializes in teaching people how to create websites and you can watch the lessons on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jv47_VIBOQ.

Of course, it takes time and sometimes it’s frustrating when things don’t work right, but it is so much better than having to learn all of the programming. Tyler even puts his phone number on his video, so you can call him if you get stuck.

Another awesome thing I found are free graphics. Of course there are many sites that offer “free” graphics, but don’t really. It all has to do with copyright and royalties. Most graphic artists want you to pay for their graphics, if you are going to use them on a business page. Generally, personal pages and education related pages get a better deal than trying to find good graphics for business websites.

Dryicons.com offers free graphics with only the catch of putting in a word of who created the graphics on your page. That is a wonderful deal! Who wouldn’t want to give credit to someone who is so generously providing professional quality graphics?

GRsites.com offers free background images. They offer so many different ones; surely anyone could find something they like.

Take these tips and go out there and CREATE! Get your site up and share with the world the wonderful YOU.

What Will We Speak?

Have you ever considered the progression of our ability to communicate? Ever wonder if we will replace words with our own creative outpourings? It seems the future is getting closer – if you think like that. It is easy to create now – whether by word, picture or film. Being able to publish anything from a book to a film has been opened up to the masses by the digital age.  No longer are there restrictions such as being “found” by an agent. Anyone can publish, isn’t that great news?

I see our souls as creative entities and our shining of what’s inside will be so much more easily broadcasted to the world, if that’s what we want. No longer will it be a select few that will entertain and inform us. We will be able to do it ourselves. Think of how many more bright lights will be shared in the world.

What am I talking about? If you are lost, I apologize. I am talking about the new form of publishing that is easy to access and easy to do. These are called Print on Demand Sites (PODS) on the Internet. PODS make it possible for YOU, yes, YOU to CREATE! Create a book and publish it – no problem, or a CD of music or even a film! It’s really wonderful! You can do it all, on some of the sites, or you can upload something you’ve made in another setting.

As I’ve been looking around this past week, my favorite so far is CreateSpace. On CreateSpace.com you can create a book using their software and their site. They will give you a quote as to how much it will cost to print and ship it, so you can keep a tally of the cost as you create. It’s really nice!

My second favorite is CafePress. Ever wanted to make your own dishes, clothing and calendars with your photos? Now you can! It’s really not too expensive, either. I was investigating a Nook sleeve and created one with my cat’s picture. What fun! Expressing yourself has never been easier or more fun! CafePress offers all kinds of products to personalize, so have a look! Maybe you need a new bumper sticker – or a personalized picture to hang on the wall. They have it all!

I hope you find this type of service as inspiring as I do. It has given me such a feeling of freedom and excitement. Now I can “publish” a book and brag to my friends. (Of course I will encourage then to do the same!)